Empowered Women and the Self-Love Ring

A new trend that has emerged is all about self-love and self-appreciation of women, by women. It is the rise of the self-love ring; some women are even taking it as far as marrying themselves and others are in a relationship referred to as ‘sologamy’. Together with Angelic Diamonds, retailers of round engagement rings, we take a closer look at the trend and how women are showing off their independence.

Where did this trend originate from?

The increase in popularity for the self-love ring began to soar throughout 2016, with as many women turning to jewellery stores to make a commitment to themselves rather than making a commitment to their partners. It’s not known exactly what drove the trend, as women have been preaching self-appreciation for many years! But it could be down to a combination of these things:

• Most recently, there has been an increase in women taking part in the likes of meditation and mindfulness which is reportedly a great contributor for self-love through increased happiness — taking time out of the day to focus solely on yourself. Research has shown that it can reduce stress, depression and anxiety and experts encourage people to take time out of their day to focus on Meditation interlinks with self-love as it focuses on taking time out of the day to concentrate on yourself.
• Celebrities have also played a large part in helping to encourage self-love and empowerment amongst women by talking about their tough times growing up and how they’ve learnt to appreciate themselves. Other successful campaigns led by celebrities include encouraging magazines and photographers to not edit their photos so that women can see that their bodies are not in fact flawless.
• Social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram have played a large role in encouraging women to love and treat themselves. Although Instagram is often slated for being filled with filtered beach bodies on our news feeds which isn’t always great, there have been many women who have posted photos of their natural selves too and persuaded others to do the same. For example, there was a trend which involved ‘No Make-up Selfies’ — a photo of yourself without make-up. Many celebrities participated in this and told women to love their natural selves! The selfie culture in general pushes women to appreciate their bodies, as they post photos of themselves and receive ‘likes’ and comments from their friends and family.

The rise in demand for self-love rings

The idea behind self-love rings are that you represent one’s commitment to oneself and a dedication that you’ll put yourself first and look after your own health and well-being. They are meant to be worn on your little finger — to represent a ‘pinky promise’ to yourself. Some jewellers offered specific ‘pinky’ rings but they can be bought as a smaller regular engagement ring.

It is also common for self-love rings to be purchased by some females along with their best friends to focus on the importance of friendship. This usually involves them making a pledge that they’ll both love themselves and put themselves first. It has also been said that those who practise self-love, soon begin to love themselves, as you change the way that you act and this can then positively affect your relationships.

Self-marriage and making the decision to marry yourself

The concept of loving yourself and putting yourself first has been taken even further by some women taking part in self-marriage. It is believed that the first ever sologamous wedding occurred in 1993, when an American woman called Linda Barker married herself in front of her closest friends.

Marrying yourself is much more of a celebration than a legal process as you cannot divorce yourself, claim legal fees and your marital status won’t change, although vows can be made to yourself. It appears as though it is more women who are taking part in this than men, possibly as a protest against the pressures that they often feel to be in a relationship.

Women who have experienced self-marriage have commented on the process by saying:

• It was a celebration of the commitment to the health, well-being, and happiness of oneself.
• The ceremony was an act of self-acceptance and love by saying your commitments out loud in front of friends and family who witnessed them.

It’s not only single women who can marry themselves, many have husbands and partners, however they see the ceremony as more of a self-acceptance. This day was all about them! A company has been created on the back of these ceremonies called I Married Me — it offers wedding supplies to one-person ceremonies.

You do not have to invest in a ring in order to proclaim that you love and accept yourself. There are other ways to demonstrate loving yourself— treat yourself to some clothing that you’ve been wanting for a while, have a spa day or just invest some time into you!